Description: The program addresses NASA’s need for a new generation of icing mitigation technology for manned and unmanned vehicles. The state of the art active de-icing method on leading edges involves either an electrical, pneumatic or vibration induced debonding of accumulated ice. Currently available ice protection systems do not use any anti-ice coating. Combining a passive coating with an active de-icing system is a pragmatic approach. The advantages are reduced power consumption, increased service life of mechanical components, lighter electronics and extra protection in case of failure of active device. Conventional low-surface-energy material based icephobic coatings have inadequate anti-ice performance and are not durable. The Phase II program has specifically addressed the durability problem, aiming to develop an anti-ice coating having long service life for permanent application on the leading edge of aircraft. Working in collaboration with a manufacturer of low power ice protection systems, as well as a company developing advanced technologies to enhance aircraft performance and safety, we have demonstrated in Phase II the feasibility of a prototype of an integrated ice protection system combining a passive anti-ice coating and an active de-icing device to address the in-flight icing problem. We demonstrated a reduction of power consumption of as much as 60%. The success of the Phase II effort has set the stage for implementing the technology in specific end-use aerospace applications identified by our industrial partner, a major aerospace company. Accordingly, in the Phase II-E effort, we propose to implement NEI’s NANOMYTE SuperAi anti-ice coating technology on our partner’s legacy and future ice protection products.

Benefits: • Supports NASA’s interest in developing effective means for aircraft icing mitigation. • Helps enable all-weather operation, reduce weight and lower power consumption. • Wings of UAVs, radio telescopes and transmission/receiving dishes, rocket launch pads and microwave towers.

Commercial aircraft, wind mills, communication towers, transmission lines, train cars, bridges